Commercial musical 'Signs of Life' coming to Biograph

"Signs of Life" in its New York production at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater in 2010.

The peak fall weeks at the Biograph Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., won't be occupied by a Victory Gardens Theater production, but a small commercial musical set during the era of the Holocaust and concerning a ghetto and concentration camp located in what is now the Czech Republic, Theresienstadt, which the Nazis used for propaganda purposes by showcasing the cultural life therein.

Titled "Signs of Life," the newly announced show was conceived and commissioned by Virginia S. Criste, a Palm Desert, Calif. lawyer whose grandparents spent their final years at Theresienstadt, and will be produced by Criste herself. It features music by Joel Derfner, lyrics by Len Schiff and a libretto by Peter Ullian. Lisa Portes will direct the Chicago production. "Signs of Life" was produced in 2010 at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater in New York.